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Unforgivable Curses
There are three Unforgivable Curses. They are illegal to use for any reason and can land the user in Azkaban for using any of them. They are as follows the Imperious Curse, Cruciatus Curse, and Killing Curse. Official canon History '' These three curses have been classified as"Unforgivable" in Wizarding society since 1717 according to Albus Dumbledore. During the First Wizarding War the Death Eaters made frequent use of these curses and in an effort to even things out the Ministry of Magic gave Aurors special permission to use them as well. After the First Wizarding War ended with the disappearance of Lord Voldemort, Alice and Frank Longbottom were tortured into insanity with the Cruciatus Curse by four Death Eaters. This crime was considered by many to be one of the most horrific crimes in living memory. The victims never recovered and spent the rest of their lives in the Janus Thickey Ward for irrevocable spell damage at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. When disguised as Alastor Moody using Polyjuice Potion during the 1994–1995 school year, Barty Crouch Jr performed each Unforgivable Curse on a spider in front of his fourth year Defence Against the Dark Arts class in 1994. He told his class the penalty for using an Unforgivable Curse on another human being is life imprisonment in Azkaban. He later bewitched several of his students with the Imperius Curse, to teach them how to resist the effects of the curse, with only Harry Potter being successful. On the 24 June 1995, Harry Potter was subjected to the Cruciatus Curse twice and the Imperius Curse once by Lord Voldemort during the Duel in Little Hangleton; he was able to resist the latter, ironically thanks to Barty Crouch Jr's teaching. During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Harry tried to use the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix Lestrange, but it didn't have much effect. She taunted Harry that he needed to really "enjoy" giving pain in order for it to work, as he learned later when he successfully used the Cruciatus Curse on Amycus Carrow before the Battle of Hogwarts on 1 May 1998, incapacitating him. Snape killed Dumbledore using the Killing Curse on top of the Astronomy Tower. Also during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, Thorfinn Rowle was recklessly firing off Killing Curses left and right, one of which accidentally killed fellow Death Eater Gibbon. Throughout the 1996-1997 school year, Draco Malfoy used the Imperius Curse on both Katie Bell and Rosmerta, and unsuccessfully attempted to torture Harry with the Cruciatus Curse, as he was severely injured with the Sectumsempra curse by Harry. Bellatrix Lestrange brutally tortured Hermione Granger with the Cruciatus Curse at Malfoy Manor and Harry used the Imperius Curse numerous times during the trio's 1998 Gringotts break-in. In the same year during the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort attempted to murder Harry with the Killing Curse twice, once in the Forbidden Forest and the other during their final duel in the Great Hall. Also during this battle Bellatrix almost hit Ginny Weasley with the Killing Curse, missing by several inches, but because of Harry's sacrifice and Ginny's ability to relatively easy dodge opponents' spells, it would not have likely harmed her. During the Second Wizarding War the Unforgivable Curses were made legal by Lord Voldemort, after he and his Death Eaters successfully infiltrated and usurped the British Ministry of Magic. After the war ended that was reversed by Kingsley Shacklebolt, when he became Minister for Magic. ''Performance Since the Unforgivable Curses are very powerful, their use requires both great willpower and great skill in order to bring about the effects. One must also have a desire to use the curses for malevolent purposes. For example, Harry Potter was unable to effectively cast the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix Lestrange in 1996. Despite being furious with her for her murder of his godfather, he lacked the desire to cause pain for its own sake. Harry's "righteous anger" only inflicted a brief moment of pain on her. Shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry not only successfully used the Cruciatus Curse against Amycus Carrow, he also cast the Imperius Curse against two individuals during the Gringotts heist which led to Harry, Hermione, and Ron getting in the Lestrange vault. Soon after being "cruciated" by Harry, Amycus Carrow was also subject to an Imperius Curse cast by Minerva McGonagall. Perhaps because the curses were cast during a period when the ban on their use had been lifted, there is no indication of either Harry or McGonagall being punished for using them in these circumstances.